Category: Asylum seekers

Sweden now whining about Syrian refugee burden

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They want other European countries to step up!

Remember last fall that the big show-offs in Sweden opened their doors to any and all Syrian asylum seekers who could get there (the announcement came when Obama was visiting)!

Now, according to the Wall Street Journal they can’t handle it and like typical liberals are whining that others need to do their share.  Emphasis below is mine.

Last September, Sweden became the only European Union country to offer permanent residence to Syrians fleeing their devastated homeland. Now, strained by its own generosity, it is losing patience with what is calls a lack of solidarity from its European brethren.

Crybaby Tobias Billstrom wants to punish European countries for not pulling their weight!

“Nine member states in the EU today receive 90% of all asylum applications annually but those nine states are starting to, well, become fed up,” Tobias Billström, Sweden’s immigration minister, said in an interview. He’s asking the European Commission to punish countries for failing to pull their weight in receiving asylum seekers in accordance with the bloc’s laws.

[….]

Since Sweden’s announcement, immigration has spiked and is now at its highest levels since the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. This year, the country’s migration experts expect 59,000 people to seek asylum there, with 23,000 of them seen coming from Syria.

Meanwhile, Italian and Greek authorities estimate more than 20,000 Syrians crossed their borders into the EU last year. Of those, a mere 1,100 applied for asylum there, according to European Commission data.

It is a strain on Sweden, especially since there is a housing shortage which pushes the price up for everyone.  I guess the Swedish economic geniuses didn’t see this coming!

For Sweden, the growing influx of asylum seekers strains authorities tasked with providing education, child care and other support. One major challenge is securing housing for asylum seekers as Sweden faces a housing shortage.

LOL!  The ‘refugee star’ of the story paid 16,000 Euros (about $22,000) to people smugglers to get him to Sweden, and he said this:

“What I like about Sweden’s approach is that you get support during the first years.”  [Welfare from day one of course—ed]

Sweden with its open door policy on immigration and its world-renowned social safety net has been our ‘canary in a coal mine’ for years.  Go here for our complete archive.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson hounded for his comments on refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson brought out the dogs with refugee comment.

The interview that NewsHounds reported on here last Wednesday happened earlier in February.  Carlson was interviewing Michael Cutler on the issue of asylum fraud and the Obama Administration’s relaxation of security screening for refugees and asylum seekers.

I had never heard of NewsHounds —we watch Fox News so you don’t have to––a Leftwing blog originally launched with the help of Moveon.org.  They assure us that they are not funded by George Soros here.

LOL!  Here is the crux of what the sanctimonious blogger Priscilla says of Carlson (I’m reading NewsHounds so you don’t have to!):

Here we go with the tired old Statue of Liberty mythology, and Carlson is a “total dick!” 

NewsHounds:

The Statue of Liberty is considered a beacon of freedom whose message to the world is to “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But Emma Lazarus’s eloquent phrases mean nothing to scion of white privilege, Tucker Carlson, who is aghast that his country would welcome those whose lives have been torn asunder by political upheavals and other circumstances which necessitate their seeking asylum here. Earlier this month (February 8th), Tucker Carlson hosted an anti-immigration spokesperson for a biased discussion of how changes in asylum rules are threatening our freedom. In railing against asylum policies, Tucker Carlson, showed us, once again, why he is such a total dick!

Can you believe it, Carlson said the US government’s job is to protect American citizens (gasp!).  And, Carlson asked the unforgivable question, why is it our moral obligation to take all these refugees? 

Priscilla continues:

This newest right wing fear factor was part and parcel of Carlson’s interview with Michael Cutler who writes for a white nationalist publication and is a fellow with the CaliforniaCenter for Population Stabilization, a hate group which is funded by the white supremacist Pioneer Fund.

Carlson described the new policy, in fair & balanced terms. Just kidding he referred to it as “ripping the immigration door off of its hinges.” In introducing his guest, a former ICE agent, Carlson said he “could hardly believe” the policy is “real.” Cutler claimed that these people, coming from countries with terrorism, won’t be sufficiently vetted and cited an example of past asylum seekers who were engaged in crime. The chyron framed the Fox propaganda: “Asylum Outrage.” He continued to discuss the “national security” implications of this policy which will “put Americans at risk.”

Carslon said “the whole thing is crazy” and asserted that “the US government has only one job and that’s to look out for the welfare of American citizens.”  He asked

“why is letting in refugees, or people who claim they are, I mean the refugees, you know half the world has refugee status, India, why do I have a moral obligation to do that as an American, I’m totally confused by this.”

Carlson then made one more assertion that drives them wild—if we let them all in they will all become Democratic voters.

“it’s more than compassion, these people will become voters, many of them will become voters, trust me, they’re part of the Obama coalition and the enemy, they will be Democratic voters, the numbers show it, the Obama coalition and the enemy.”

And, in case you missed it in the opening, Carlson is a “total dick!”  (Sorry, but am just quoting Priscilla)

So according to Tucker Carlson, refugees from war torn countries should not be allowed into the country because it’s not his moral obligation and because they might vote Democratic. One thing is for sure, that kind of “Christian” attitude won’t be growing the GOP anytime soon. The America of Fox News is not the America represented on Lady Liberty. At least that’s what Tucker Carlson thinks! What a total dick!

Thanks NewsHounds!   I missed the Carlson interview and wouldn’t have known about it but for your reporting.  Anyone who can infuriate you on this subject is a new hero of mine!

Four Members of Congress ask GAO for study on asylum fraud

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) one of four Members looking for answers on the cost to the taxpayers of asylum fraud.

Last night I was going through news I’ve missed lately and found this excellent Newsmax story by Cheryl Chumley. Besides the encouraging news about a GAO study in the opening paragraphs, the article is a thorough source of information on what is happening with asylum and how asylees relate to resettled refugees.

I encourage you to read the whole article.

Our present asylum system came out of the Refugee Act of 1980 (Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter), so refugee resettlement and asylum are two sides of the same coin.   We, with the UN, select refugees and fly them here.  Asylum seekers get into the US often illegally, or overstay a visa, and then ask for asylum.  Once granted asylum, the asylee gets all the welfare goodies that refugees receive (and can avail themselves of the services of the contractors).  See our fact sheet, here.

Although to be commended for asking for a GAO study, if Goodlatte, Gowdy and others really wanted to do something they would hold hearings on the entire Refugee Program with the eye to reforming it!  (Never been done!)

See also all of our recent posts on asylum fraud by clicking here.  Seventy fraudsters (at least) likely residing in Maryland.

From Newsmax (emphasis is mine):

Four Republican congressmen have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the U.S. asylum process after a leaked Department of Homeland Security report showed that up to 70 percent of cases contained proven or possible fraud.

“Once individuals are granted asylum in the U.S., they become immediately eligible for all major federal welfare programs. And if, as it appears, asylum fraud is rampant in the system, American taxpayers could potentially be defrauded out of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars each year,” House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia wrote to the GAO.   [Letter is here—-ed]

Also signing the letter were House Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, and Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas and Jason Chaffetz of Utah.

“For years, there have been reports of abuse in the asylum program; we are troubled by a continued lack of appropriate oversight by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the component of the Department of Homeland Security that administers the asylum program,” Goodlatte said in an introduction to the letter.

Goodlatte referred to a report from DHS written in 2009 that was recently obtained by the House Judiciary Committee, revealing that 70 percent or more of affirmative asylum cases from 2005 showed signs of fraud.

Read it all.

Another GAO study

Speaking of GAO studies, a few years ago then Senator Lugar of Indiana requested a study on the Refugee Resettlement program that had overloaded the state of Indiana with needy third-worlders.  That study produced some useful information, but I’m sure the resettlement industry just ignored it.  Or worse, used it to demand more federal $$$ for resettlement in over-loaded communities.

Two years after it was requested, here is the Lugar-generated GAO study.

Israeli program to pay ‘asylum seekers’ to leave is working!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, the success so far confirms what the Israeli government has been saying all along—the majority of so-called ‘asylum seekers’ are economic migrants who do not have a legitimate claim of asylum, or they would be making it!

African protesters at US Embassy in Tel Aviv in January demanding to be allowed to stay in Israel.
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/01/07/waiting-for-the-unhcr-to-blast-saudi-arabia-as-they-did-israel-yesterday/

From Haaretz:

A record 1,705 African asylum seekers left Israel in February, Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced Thursday. He also predicted that the wave of departures would continue in the coming months.

“This figure for the last month surprises me for the better,” Sa’ar said at a conference of Population and Immigration Authority directors in Ashkelon. “If the trend we identify continues, and I’ve been informed that it will continue into March, there will be a departure of enormous proportions from Israel this year. It is most important.”

February’s figure represents about 3% of the estimated number of African asylum seekers in Israel. The monthly figures have grown since November, from 63 to 325 in December and 765 in January.

“We stood up to constant propaganda insinuating there were tens of thousands of asylum seekers, even though you know that a tiny percentage of them submitted asylum requests,” said Sa’ar. “This whole theory collapsed in the last months when it turned out there was a large exodus of those who came for economic reasons and figured that in a day or two he would no longer be able to work and earn money, so we see a definitive change in direction.”

Sa’ar showed the statistics on a placard headlined “Voluntary departure data – illegal infiltrators” to make his point. Each African asylum seeker who leaves Israel through the end of next month is entitled to a $3,500 government grant.

Maybe we could try this in America!  The only difference is that the Israelis now have an almost impenetrable border fence, so more are not on the way.

Back to Haaretz:

There was a recent flurry of criticism when it was learned that some of the migrants chose to go to Uganda rather than to their home country.  But, leave it to a US refugee resettlement contractor, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society to stick its nose into Israel’s business (see our previous post here).

It remains unclear what, if any, agreement was made with Uganda. The Jewish-American Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society contacted the director of refugee affairs in the Ugandan prime minister’s office, and he responded that he did not know of any arrangement with Israel.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is one of nine major US resettlement contractors who resettle refugees for the US State Department in your cities and towns.   The US taxpayer supplies them with about half of their entire annual budget.  Their past CEO collected a salary in excess of $300,000 a year and we can assume their new one does as well.  Can it be called do-gooder-itis with a salary like that?

For new readers, we have 147 previous posts in our category ‘Israel and refugees’ here.

Maine brain drain! Reverse it with asylum seekers says developer turned spiritualist

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Richard Berman stands in front of Hope House. Berman wants to welcome asylum seekers to brain-drained Maine!

He says the City of Portland “gets it,” but the rest of Maine needs to “wake up!”

We’ve learned recently that as many as 70% of asylum claims are fraudulent, then there is the big NYT story about the Chinese frauds, and just this morning we learned of a large asylum fraud bust in Maryland, but if Mainers, like Richard Berman, want to lure them to Portland with free housing (welfare) until their claims are processed, Maine can have them if they promise to keep them!

Here is the story from the Bangor Daily News. Hat tip: Joanne.  Head honchos from the US State Department were in Maine last week for a PR tour.

PORTLAND, Maine — From home to school to work, the lives of refugees and asylum seekers received closer looks from federal and city officials this week.

On Friday, Feb. 21, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard visited Portland Adult Education and several local businesses to see how refugees and resettlement agencies are faring. Richard was accompanied by Lawrence Bartlett, state department director of refugee admissions.

Asylum seekers are not eligible for welfare nationally until their claims are approved, but in Maine, as we mentioned here recently, they do get welfare support and now they get housing thanks to developer/philanthropist/spiritualist Richard Berman.

On Tuesday, Mayor Michael Brennan cut the ribbon at ceremonies marking the opening of Hope House at 14 Sherman St. The apartment house has been home to 13 Africans seeking political asylum for almost six months.

Hope House, which was bought by developer Richard Berman and operated by the nonprofit Hope Acts, solves the most basic question asylum seekers such as Hugues Ingabire, 21, face when they arrive in Portland.

Berman says that Maine doesn’t have enough brains so they need asylum seekers and refugees to make up the shortfall.

Berman said welcoming and getting asylum seekers settled is a benefit to Maine’s future.

“This is the reverse of the brain drain,” he said.

Berman:  Wake up Maine!

Publicist Jen Dimond said she wants Brennan and other Hope House visitors to see the success of the collaboration between Berman and Hope Acts because it is understood the city does not have the resources to provide the full measure of help to refugees and asylum seekers.

Berman said city officials are doing what they can, even though there are limits.

“It seems like the city gets it,” he said. ‘It is the state that needs to wake up.”

So who is Richard Berman—the brain behind the plan for Portland?

Here is an article from last September that tells you all you need to know!

PORTLAND – Richard Berman is not your typical developer

Over the last 40 years, Berman has gained a reputation as a philanthropist, as well as a developer who values community engagement, “smart growth,” historic preservation and affordable housing.

Berman is drawn to mysticism and meditation. He was born and raised Jewish, before turning to Eastern religions. He now attends St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Cape Elizabeth and serves on the Maine Council of Churches.

“Just because you’re a real estate developer doesn’t mean you’re not spiritual,” Berman quipped.

Next month, the Cape Elizabeth resident will turn 68 years old and steer a new course in his career. Berman says will “semi-retire” so he can turn more of his full-time attention to philanthropic endeavors, without having to worry about profit margins.

“I want to turn my talent and treasures to good use,” Berman said. “I’m turning my attention to more spiritual matters like immigration and homelessness.”

Do-gooder-itis?  Or something else?

For new readers, we have an extensive archive on Maine, here. Be sure to check out one of our top posts for the last few years (from 2009)—-Maine the welfare magnet—about how the US State Department and Catholic Charities helped start the migrant stampede to Maine.